10 Facts About Fatherlessness

1. An estimated 24.7 million children (36.3%) live absent of their biological father.

2. There are almost 17 million children (25%) living with their single mothers.

3. 1.25 million or 32% of all births in 1995 were out-of-wedlock.

4. Today nearly 4 out of 10 first marriages end in divorce, 60% of divorcing couples have children, and over one million children each year experience the divorce of their parents.

5. One out of every six children is a stepchild.

6. There are nearly 1.9 million single fathers with children under 18.

7. Four out of every 10 cohabitating couples have children present and of children born to cohabitating couples, only 4 out of 10 will see their parents marry. Those who do marry experience a 50% higher divorce rate.

8. 26% of absent fathers live in a different state than their own children.

9. About 40 % of the children who live in fatherless households haven’t seen their fathers in at least a year while 50% of children who don’t live with their fathers have never stepped foot in their father’s home.

10. Children who live absent of their biological fathers, on average, are more likely to be poor, experience educational, health, emotional, and psychological problems, be victims of child abuse, and engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological mother and father.